By Hao Zhou (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2007-07-25 15:30

In order to relieve energy tension, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) urged research and development of reproducible energy products, especially those related to bioenergy.

Bioenergy and biological materials are crucial parts of the nation's new energy and recycling economy programs, said Zhang Xiaoqiang, deputy director of NDRC, interpreting the 11th Five-Year Plan for the bioindustry.

According to the blueprint, China's bioindustry added-value will amount to 500 billion yuan (US$66 billion) by 2010 and quadruple it a decade later. By then, the bioindustry will have become a hi-tech pillar of the national economy.

For the first time, China has included bioindustry as a strategic industry in its national economic and social development plan. Bioindustry refers to the cluster of companies that produce engineered biological products and their supporting businesses.

The reason for the urgency of the development program is the soaring international oil prices. This week, the West Texas Intermedium (WTI) crude oil price and Brent crude oil futures price are US$75 and US$77 per barrel respectively.

Meanwhile, China imported 79.72 million tons of crude oil in the first half this year, up 13.4 percent year-on-year, and accounting for 46.1 percent of the total consumption of crude oil in the first half.